martes, 2 de agosto de 2016

Brussels and the cybersecurity industry will earmark up to 1.8 billion euros in research

TELEFONICA JOINS THE DECISION-MAKING BODIES OF THE EUROPEAN CYBER SECURITY ORGANIZATION AS THE ONLY TELCO

MADRID, - August 2, 2016 - Telefonica has been appointed in the General Meeting of the newly created European Cyber Security Organization (ECSO) as a member of its board and of the Partnership Board with the European Commission (EC) to coordinate the activities that the ECSO will promote in relation to the so-called cPPP (contractual Public-Private Partnership), a joint initiative of the EC with companies from the cybersecurity sector that is expected to trigger 1.8 billion euros of investment by 2020 in different lines of research in cybersecurity.

Pedro Pablo Pérez García, Telefonica Global Security Managing Director and CEO of ElevenPaths —the company's division specialized in developing cybersecurity solutions—, and Cristina Vela, Senior Advisor of Telefonica's Brussels office, will represent Telefonica as the only telecommunications operator in this organization, that has over 130 partners including large companies, research centers, business associations, public administrations and technology users.

Cybersecurity and the fight against cybercrime have turned into one of the priorities of the EU Digital Single Market Strategy, with the promotion of initiatives to prevent security incidents that can undermine not only consumer confidence, but also the ICT sector and ultimately, the digital economy. This way, Brussels aims to strengthen cooperation between all Member States and cybersecurity companies and organizations, and thus help to develop new policies and technologies, products and security services common for all EU.

Within the ECSO, Telefonica will defend its vision of a comprehensive and balanced cybersecurity strategy that faces the ongoing security threats in a constantly changing technology environment, and that at the same time guarantees the individual and collective rights in security matters. With the participation in this organization, Telefonica will also strengthen its commitment to consolidate the digital trust of clients, users and companies in the interest of a safe internet environment in Europe, as stated in the company's Digital Manifesto.

"We have to evolve from isolated security solutions that focus on asset protection, towards solutions that are capable of analyzing information from devices, networks, technology equipment and users, and combine it with external intelligence on vulnerabilities, threats and other agents," Pedro Pablo Perez pointed out. "Trust between the industry and the public administration of the Member States is essential for the effective implementation of this approach, and in this sense, the role that the cPPP can play is essential.".

The unstoppable growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the development of new business around it makes a full coordination between all agents in the ICT sector all the more necessary, as well as the creation of an open cybersecurity technology standard in order to end the threat posed by the current fragmentation of security systems. This is precisely one of the conclusions of the report "Scope, scale and risk like never before: Securing the Internet of Things" recently presented by Telefonica, which also shows that the development of vulnerable cybersecurity solutions could compromise the security of critical infrastructures.

Over the years, Telefonica has been engaged in the development of specifications and technological standards on cybersecurity, such as the development of the biometric standard SC37, and in several initiatives in this field within the European Commission's H2020 program (Horizon 2020). The company has also been involved in other cybersecurity projects within bodies such as the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), ITU (International Telecommunication Union) and the GSMA (GSM Association). Moreover, it encourages the development of cybersecurity technologies, not only through ElevenPaths, but also through Telefonica Open Future with investments and the promotion of many start-ups working in this sector.